2023 Best Value Journalism Schools in Pennsylvania
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Journalism School for You
Journalism is the #80 most popular major in Pennsylvania with 506 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Journalism Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in Pennsylvania to see which programs offered the best value experiences for journalism students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Best Pennsylvania Schools for Affordable Quality in Journalism
Our analysis found Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania to be the best value school for journalism students who want to pursue a degree in Pennsylvania. Ship is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Shippensburg.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Ship are $13,394 a year. Journalism majors at Ship take out an average of $26,000 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $261, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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The excellent programs at Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best journalism schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the town of Indiana, IUP is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at IUP are $13,144 a year. Journalism majors at IUP take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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The excellent programs at Temple University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best journalism schools in Pennsylvania. Temple is a very large public school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Temple are $17,378 a year. On average, journalism graduates from Temple take out $25,920 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $452, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
Full Journalism at Temple University Report
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Out of the 9 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the fringe town of Edinboro, Edinboro is a public school with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Edinboro are $10,543 a year. While working on their degree, journalism majors at Edinboro accumulate an average of around $26,000 in student debt.
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Out of the 9 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Scranton landed the # 5 spot on the list. University of Scranton is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Scranton.
University of Scranton undergraduate students pay an average of $48,462 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Journalism majors at University of Scranton take out an average of $26,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, University of Scranton also did well on our Best Journalism Schools in Pennsylvania list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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With a ranking of #6, Point Park University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for journalism students. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Point Park is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Point Park undergraduate students pay an average of $35,610 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, journalism majors at Point Park accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
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With a ranking of #7, Duquesne University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for journalism students. Duquesne is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Duquesne are $43,526 per year. Journalism majors at Duquesne take out an average of $26,500 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Messiah University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value journalism programs. Located in the suburb of Mechanicsburg, Messiah is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Messiah are $38,370 per year.
Full Journalism at Messiah University Report
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Widener University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Journalism Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Widener is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Chester.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Widener are $49,706 per year.
Request InformationBest Value Journalism Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore all the Best Value Journalism Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| New York | 1,053 |
| Maryland | 210 |
| New Jersey | 267 |
| District of Columbia | 170 |
| Delaware | 17 |
More Journalism Rankings in Pennsylvania
Journalism Related Majors for Journalism
One of 5 majors within the area of study, journalism has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Journalism
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Communication & Media Studies | 66,787 |
| Public Relations & Advertising | 21,099 |
| Radio, Television & Digital Communication | 17,669 |
| Communication & Journalism (Other) | 1,128 |
| Publishing | 336 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 9 schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Jfurrer.
More about our data sources and methodologies.